ITHACA, N.Y. — First place in the Ivy League table is on the line at Berman Field on Saturday when the Penn Quakers and the No. 16-ranked Cornell Big Red square off with the hopes of opening conference play 3-0.

Game Information

SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
TIME: Saturday, Oct. 15 – 4 p.m.
RECORDS: Penn (8-1-1, 2-0-0 Ivy), Cornell (9-2-0, 2-0-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 39-28-9
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com

Strong Ivy League Start

• After winning its first two conference matches against Harvard (Oct. 1) and Brown (Oct. 8), Cornell is off to a 2-0 start in Ivy League play for a second consecutive season and 11th overall time since Ivy League play began prior to the 1955 season.
 
• Last year, Cornell opened conference action 2-0 before concluding the season with a 4-2-1 mark in Ivy play.
 
• A victory over Penn on Saturday would give Cornell its sixth 3-0 start in program history and the first since 2012, when that year's squad matched the program record for the best conference record (6-1-0).
 
• Cornell has started 3-0 on five previous occasions (1975, 1979, 1985, 2011, 2012). Only the 1975 and 1985 teams had better starts (5-0).
 
• Opening Ivy League play 2-0 in consecutive seasons is a rare occurrence, becoming just the third time in in program history that has happened, joining the 1975 and 1976 squads, and the 2011 and 2012 teams.

Crunching the Numbers

• The United Soccer Coaches released its updated rankings just minutes before Cornell and Colgate kicked off at Beyer-Small '76 Field on Tuesday.
 
• After entering the rankings as the No. 22-ranked team, the Big Red's ranking jumped to No. 16 on Tuesday, marking Cornell's highest ranking since being No. 11 on Nov. 13, 2012.
 
• Cornell has received a top-25 ranking for a second consecutive season and the third time in the last four seasons the Big Red has competed.
 
• Following the updated rankings, Cornell is the lone Ivy League program ranked in the top 25. Penn and Yale are the other Ivies garnering national attention, as both teams are also receiving votes.

Honors Galore

• Junior forward Matthew Goncalves was named the Ivy League Player of the Week after scoring game-winning goals in both of the Big Red's victories last week over then-No. 7 Syracuse and Brown.
 
• It marked the second consecutive week that a Big Red player earned Player of the Week honors. Senior midfielder Brandon Morales was tabbed the conference's top player on Oct. 3, following a five-point performance against Harvard.
 
• Goncalves was also named Top Drawer Soccer's Player of the Week for his performances.
 
• In addition to Goncalves being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week, senior defender Connor Drought was also acknowledged for his role in the Big Red's pair of victories last week.
 
• Drought was one of four defenders named to the College Soccer News' Team of the Week after logging an assist on Goncalves' game-winning marker with 17 seconds left against Brown.
 
• Joining Drought on the Team of the Week was Missouri State's Lewis Green, Wisconsin's Maxwell Keenan, and SMU's Mads Westergren.

Berman Field Advantage

• After Vermont snapped Cornell's 15-game unbeaten streak at Berman Field on Sept. 13, Cornell has bounced back by with an 8-0 victory over Canisius and a 3-2 win over Harvard.
 
• Since 2019, the Big Red is unbeaten in 17 of its last 18 matches at Berman Field, posting a 14-1-3 record and a .861 win percentage, which ranks seventh in the nation.
 
• Georgetown (.895), Missouri State (.892), New Hampshire (.882), and Washington (.868) are ahead of the Big Red.
 
• Cornell is the only Division I program over the last three-plus years to have just one loss on its home turf. Georgetown, New Hampshire, Campbell, Marshall, and Yale are those with two home losses during the span.

Having an Eye for the Goal

• The Big Red has scored 24 goals so far this year, marking the program's 11th overall time since 1946 that Cornell has logged at least 24 goals over its first 11 matches. It is the second consecutive year and third time in the last four seasons of competition that Cornell has at least 24 goals over the first 11 matches.
 
• Cornell was shutout for the first time in 2022 on Tuesday, snapping the Big Red's 15-game goal streak. Despite Colgate posting the clean sheet on the Big Red, it marks the fifth consecutive season that Cornell has had just one clean sheet against over its first 11 games of a season.
 
• Dating back to 2019, Cornell has scored in 43 of its last 46 matches and in 76 of the 95 games (80.0 percent) played during John Smith's tenure as head coach at Cornell. The 80 percent figure ranks as the fourth-highest total by a Cornell head coach. It is the highest since Dan Wood (1971-75), the coach in which Smith's position is currently endowed for.

Reaching the 10-Win Plateau

• Cornell is seeking its fourth consecutive 10-win season with a victory on Saturday. Securing a win in its 12th game of the season would be the fastest the Big Red has reached the 10-win mark since 2012 (won first 12 games).
 
• The Big Red has won its 10th game in a season in 12 games or fewer in four other campaigns (2012 — in 10 games; 1975 — in 11 games; 1971 and 1995 — in 12 games).

Scouting the Quakers

• Penn enters Saturday's contest on a seven-game win streak, the Quakers' longest win streak since spanning the 1975 and 1976 seasons. The win streak is the longest single-season win streak since Penn won the 1972 Ivy League championship.
 
• Over its 10 matches so far, Penn has a plus-22 goal differential to pace the Ivy League and rank sixth nationally in the category following Wednesday's contests.
 
• Penn's 2.80 goals per game (5th), 17.50 shots per game (7th), and 7.70 shots on goal per game (7th) rank in the top 10 nationally.
 
• Ben Stitz has 20 points (nine goals, two assists), pacing Penn's potent offense. Stas Korzeniowski (six goals, five assists — 17 points) and Michael Hewes (six goals, one assist — 13 points) also have double-digit point totals this season.
 
• Nick Christoffersen has started all 10 games for the Quakers in goal, playing all but 3:45 of Penn's minutes. He has a 0.60 goals-against average, to lead all Ivy League goalkeepers, and a .786 save percentage.

Series vs. Penn

• Penn leads the all-time series, 39-28-8, and are 5-2-1 against Cornell over its last eight matches. Cornell, however, has won two of the last three matches in the series.
 
• It is the first time the Quakers are playing at Berman Field since Sept. 29, 2018, when the Big Red posted a 1-0 double-overtime victory.
 
• Matches between the Quakers and Big Red have been proven to be close contests. Dating back to 2001, 17 of the last 20 matches have been decided by one goal or less.

Looking Ahead

• Cornell will host Binghamton in its final non-conference contest of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 18. First touch between the Bearcats and Big Red is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.